Street riots exploded in Baltimore on Monday after the funeral of Freddie Gray, a black man injured in police custody. Police lost control of rampaging protesters, businesses were looted and a state of emergency was issued as the National Guard was called out.
The parents of Gray, a 25-year-old man who suffered a spinal cord injury earlier this month after being arrested by city police, had called for calm before his funeral but protests away from the services spiraled out of control Monday afternoon and into the evening,
reported the Baltimore Sun.
Baltimore police Col. Darryl DeSousa said in a news conference that 15 police officers were injured and two remain hospitalized. He said 27 people were arrested over the course of the rioting.
Police spokesman Capt. Eric Kowalczyk told the Sun that one officer was unresponsive and others suffered broken bones.
Looters scrambled to take items at Mondawmin Mall and some were seen packing their vehicles with stolen goods. Fire crews fought a huge blaze at a large senior center under construction in the area.
Television covereage showed burning cars set on fire in the area while
The New York Times reported that a CVS drugstore was looted and a café inside an Italian deli was heavily damaged.
"It's idiotic to think that by destroying your city, you're going to make life better for anybody," said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake as she declared a curfew across the city starting Tuesday.
Gov. Larry Hogan activated the National Guard as he declared a state of emergency,
according to the Washington Post. The newspaper said the guard arrived in the city before midnight.
"I have not made this decision lightly," Hogan told reporters. "The National Guard is the last resort in order to restore order. ... People have a right to protest and express their frustration, but Baltimore city families deserve peace and safety."
Rawlings-Blake blamed the violence on "thugs who always want to incite violence and destroy our city," noted the Post.
"Too many people have spent generations building up this city for it to be destroyed by thugs who, in a very senseless way, are trying to tear down what so many have fought for," the mayor said.
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